94: Chapter 14 Gossip 94: Chapter 14 Gossip “This is still feudal thinking, a hero-based view of history,” Jing Hongtu criticized.

“The will of those great figures is not the decisive factor in history.

The real determinant of history, you see, is people.

Common people, I mean.

If life were good for everyone, who would want to go to war?

But not everyone can live well, can they?

Where there is social conflict, there is dissatisfaction.

If too many people are living poorly, this dissatisfaction will gather and grow.”

“Some ambitious individuals may be able to manipulate this ‘dissatisfaction’ towards certain goals, sparking wars to achieve personal or group interests.

However, they cannot create this discontent out of thin air.

It only exists where there is economic stagnation, where people cannot imagine a ‘bright future’.”

“If the state is secure and the people are content with their work, who would want to go to war?

But as soon as economic growth falters, job opportunities dwindle, and the paths to advancement narrow, people find it hard to imagine a ‘bright future’—they become discontented, they get angry.”

“At this time, those with ambition will tell the people that it’s because the neighbors have taken an extra bite, that’s why you have less to eat.

Kill the neighbor, and you can have that extra bite of food.

They are either the vested interests themselves, wanting to conjure up a ‘demand’ for war to help seize more profits.

Xenophobia, conservatism, they deceive people through such means.”

“At the same time, revolutionaries will point out that this is an issue of distribution.

The real enemy is not the ‘neighbor who takes an extra bite,’ but the ‘boss who takes away the fruits of your labor’—this boss might live next to your neighbor, but that doesn’t mean your neighbor is your foe.

You need to readjust the distribution of benefits.”

As Jing Hongtu said this, he paused to drink some juice to moisten his throat, “We still need to clarify this reasoning.”

Xiang Shan nodded, “It seems that this is what the history textbooks say.

Is the ‘Delano New Deal’ considered the latter?”

Delano, the thirty-second president of the Federation, was also the longest-serving one.

His series of policies readjusting wealth distribution before World War II pulled the Federation out of the deep abyss of a great crisis, saving it from fascism.

“The Third Reich belonged to the former,” Jing Hongtu nodded in agreement.

Xiang Shan sighed, “Tsk tsk, when it comes down to it, for Homo sapiens, it’s easier to imagine ‘if the neighbor eats more, I eat less’ than to envision a utopian society.”

Jing Hongtu was slightly surprised, “Tsk tsk, you’ve thought about this too?”

“Not really,” Xiang Shan shook his head.

“Teacher Liu has an interdisciplinary project to his name, and I occasionally chat with some neuroscientists.

They told me that we, Homo sapiens, have at least tens of thousands of years of primal living, but only decades of modern life.

Our brains have gone through adaptive evolution for primal societal living, which makes it more challenging to feel happiness in modern society.”

“That’s an interesting point of view,” Jing Hongtu nodded.

“It aligns with some of the things I used to ponder.”

“Those seniors have given me examples too,” Xiang Shan gestured with his hands.

“When I was studying, wasn’t there a pandemic?

At that time, some potential patients didn’t stay home; instead, they tried every means possible to ‘flee the epidemic area,’ objectively contributing to the further spread of the epidemic.”

“Why?

Because it matches the instincts of primal humans.

In the primitive era, population density was low.

If someone in a tribe contracted an epidemic, as long as tribe members scattered and fled, each to unpopulated areas, the sick would naturally die out, and everyone else would be safe.

Primitive humans survived diseases with this strategy, and those who successfully did so became the ancestors of modern humans.

Hence, modern humans still possess this instinct to flee from danger.”

Jing Hongtu nodded, his tone carrying a hint of mockery, “It seems that this method also has tens of thousands of years of history, truly a ‘time-honored tradition’ indeed.”

Xiang Shan sighed, “Actually, I often think, if we could develop a method to implant chips into human brains, we might be able to take humanity further, to achieve a ‘Superman Metamorphosis.’

“Wow, that’s quite the ambition.

You’re talking about turning science fiction into reality,” Jing Hongtu nodded.

“Is that why you applied for Professor Liu’s graduate program?”

Xiang Shan nodded, “But speaking of that, interdisciplinary topics are not easy to tackle.

Teacher said to start with something easier.

When I thought about it carefully, working on industrial foundations is also a significant contribution to the state…”

“Industrial foundations?” Jing Hongtu became interested.

“As far as I remember, isn’t Professor Liu researching hardware?

What does industrial foundations refer to…?”

Xiang Shan wiped his mouth, “I study the hardware and numerical control of cutting-edge 3D printers.”

“3D printing…

I recall this was an old topic fifteen years ago, wasn’t it?” Jing Hongtu wondered.

“Is Professor Liu making you sit on the bench?”

“No, no, that’s where you’re mistaken,” Xiang Shan became somewhat indignant.

“When academia throws out a concept, and capital comes in to hype it up.

Scientists thought they were coming with funding, but these capitalists treated scientific research subjects like stocks, all hot money.

The technology wasn’t mature yet, but they threw it high up.

Premature promotion.

Once the concept was hyped up and they made their money, they didn’t care anymore.

3D printing technology is not yet mature today, and fifteen years ago…

they made it seem as though its potential had been exhausted, on the brink of obsolescence.”

“Mature 3D printing technology can indeed change the industrial landscape to some extent.”

Jing Hongtu nodded, “You are the expert in that field, I’m the old man who doesn’t understand.”

“No worries, I didn’t understand that whole spiel either.” Xiang Shan laughed as he took a bite of chicken leg, his words muffled, “Everyone is an expert only in their own field.”

Professor Jing nodded in agreement.

“If I could bring advanced 3D printing technology to factories at all levels, it would definitely trigger a new round of industrial upgrading,” Xiang Shan continued, “Based on the history you just mentioned, perhaps it could extend a period of peace for humanity like the information industry revolution did.”

“Ambitious,” Professor Jing nodded again, “but what comes after that?”

“One generation does the work of their time,” Xiang Shan replied quite optimistically, “As part of this generation, I will develop new technologies and promote industrial upgrading to extend peace for humanity for a few more years.

The next generation will do the same.

As long as we upgrade fast enough, economic crises won’t be able to catch up with us.”

“That’s too optimistic.

Of the previous crises, only one was overcome by industrial upgrading—economic crises happen much faster than industrial revolutions,” Professor Jing shook his head, “The problem with humanity is no longer ‘production’ but ‘distribution’.

The outdated mode of production cannot keep up with advanced productive forces.

If we don’t solve this fundamental issue, whatever development you pursue will only be treating the symptoms…”

Xiang Shan spread his hands, “What can I do when my job is to ‘treat the symptoms’?

If I can ‘treat the symptoms’ for humanity, I’d consider my duty fulfilled, wouldn’t I?

Who could blame me?”

“That’s true,” Teacher Jing shook his head, “You’re right.

I’m certainly not as capable as you are—I, an old pauper, don’t even have a way to treat the symptoms.”

Teacher Jing’s heart was touched during the conversation he was enjoying with Xiang Shan.

Xiang Shan quickly said, “Teacher Jing, even though the industrial revolution can’t keep up with economic crises, didn’t you say it yourself?

The arrival of Argon signifies that humanity’s peace has been extended for a while longer.”

“The reason the world is constantly in turmoil is because it’s much easier to imagine ‘my neighbor eating more will cause me to eat less’ than to envision a utopian society.

The former constantly happens in stories, while the latter exists only in the idealism of philosophers,” the committee member looked out the window, “But the landing of the ‘Traveler’ will make the concept of ‘the whole of humanity’ as a community of shared destiny easier to imagine.

I suppose this will make the general public more inclined towards ‘reform’ psychologically.”

Xiang Shan nodded, “Heaven won’t abandon humanity, this is good news.”

Professor Jing agreed, “Good news indeed, it’s just that the name is not very auspicious.”

“Huh?” Xiang Shan asked, puzzled, “Is there a problem with the name ‘Argon’?”

“Argon is originally the deity of the Yoruba people in the region of Nigeria in Africa.

Later, with the transatlantic slave trade, a large number of African natives were kidnapped and brought to America.

This belief was also carried over and, after some changes, became the Voodoo Religion,” Professor Jing explained, “The deity ‘Argon’ is not only a symbol of ‘masculinity’ and ‘virility’.

He is also the god of metals and smelting, bringing fire and steel to humanity.”

“However, do you know what divine attribute often accompanies ‘metal’?” Professor Jing looked at Xiang Shan.

Xiang Shan shook his head.

“War,” Professor Jing uttered the word, “‘Metal’ or ‘Venus’ deities are often closely linked to ‘war’.

Argon is also a god of war.”

Xiang Shan sighed in relief, “Teacher Jing, I have to say something.

All this ‘omen’ and ‘omens,’ it’s just arbitrarily linking two unrelated things together while ignoring the objective laws of event development—didn’t you just say that this thing could help humanity develop peacefully for a period of time?”

“Right, I’m a liberal arts student, after all, I love to indulge in romantic fantasies,” Professor Jing said with a laugh.

While they were chatting, Xiang Shan had nearly finished everything on his plate.

Perhaps due to his age, Professor Jing ate much slower.

Xiang Shan quickly finished the last bit on his plate, picked it up and said, “Teacher Jing, talking with you has been very enlightening.

Let’s chat again sometime.”

Professor Jing nodded in agreement.

Perhaps because of the day’s reflections, that night, Xiang Shan had a dream—a dream about himself working hard to research, unravel the secrets of Argon, developing a significant technology, and ultimately promoting the evolution of all humanity.

“Shit.” The next day, Xiang Shan, with his bed hair, brushed his teeth outside, still thinking to himself, “Dreams really do have everything.”